Looking for a supercar you can use every day? McLaren says it has the answer, with the new GTS.
Essentially a facelift to the four-year-old GT, the new car has extra power, less weight, and a couple of tweaks to help improve its everyday usability.
Although it still looks just like the outgoing GT – complete with its shallow headlights, gaping side air intakes and a nose that sits a little higher than other members of the McLaren family – it’s what’s under the skin that matters.
McLaren has teased an extra 14 bhp out of the GT’s twin-turbocharged 4.0-litre V8 engine, taking the total up to 626 bhp and lowering the 0-62 mph sprint time by a tenth of a second to 3.2 seconds. That’s the same as the mighty, three-seater McLaren F1, and is aided by a 10kg reduction in kerb weight, which falls to 1520 kg. The car retains the GT’s seven-speed, semi-automatic gearbox and has a top speed of 203 mph.
The British supercar maker says these stats give the new GTS the best power-to-weight ratio in its class. Although the ‘daily supercar’ class is somewhat difficult to define, the GTS’s 412 bhp per tonne is considerably more than a Bentley Continental GT V8, and 42 bhp up on the Aston Martin DB12.
Another major upgrade for the GTS is its nose lift system. We know this might not sound particularly exciting, but it now pushes the nose up by 20mm, giving a ground clearance of 130mm. That means the GTS can clamber its way over city centre speed bumps without concern. The nose takes four seconds to fully lift or fall, which is more than twice as quick as the GT and means you won’t receive quite so many blasts of horns from impatient drivers behind you.
Also helpful for town and city driving is how the steering assistance increases at low speed to help with parking – and completing a crawling-pace lap of Harrods, naturally.
McLaren says the GTS has a unique tune to its electro-hydraulic steering, adaptive suspension damping and standard-fit carbon ceramic brakes. The company stresses how, although the GTS serves up supercar performance, this is “not at the expense of comfort and ride quality when this is beneficial.”
Other updates over there GT include subtle styling changes to the front and rear ends, along with a set of new wheels and refreshed paint options. The two-seat cabin layout remains, along with a decent amount of luggage space (for a supercar) and McLaren’s trademark carbon tub.
Interior tech also remains the same as the outgoing GT. This means a 10.25in digital instrument display behind the steering wheel, plus a 7in central touchscreen for the infotainment and navigation system. This is powered by a 10-core processor and has a smart-style menu system with navigation mapping by HERE. A Bowers & Wilkins sound system with 12 speakers – comprising carbon fibre sub-bass woofers and Kevlar mid-range drive units – is an optional extra.
The GTS is offered stealthy-not-shouty by default, with gloss black exhaust tips, mirror caps and window surrounds, plus new GTS badging that can be tinted black for extra subtlety.
McLaren has not announced a price for the GTS, but it’s safe to assume it will cost a little more than the £167,000 GT. The order books are open now and McLaren says deliveries will begin in 2024.
